a food journey

Less Facebook And Getting Dinner On The Table

Posted on March 13, 2014

A little update: I’ve made it three days without being on Facebook. It hasn’t been easy. It is really amazing how much stuff you can get done when not on Facebook. But let’s be real: I’m looking VERY much forward to reconnecting once the week is up.

Now for some of this week’s hits:

I’m really glad I tried a different approach to my meals this week. I was getting burned out from all that chopping soI decided to just grill some chicken and add to big ‘ol salads. See? Easy. All those veggies are free. Even the asparagus is mostly free. I used a champagne vinaigrette recipe I found that was close enough to one of the recipes on the WW website. Oh, and Cooking Light magazine gave me a great idea. They said to go ahead and make your dressing, but put it in a squeeze bottle to use for the week (you know, like the kind of bottles that hold BBQ sauce at restaurants). I chopped up some shallots, added champagne vinegar, salt, pepper, and olive oil and put it in the squeeze bottle that I got from a restaurant supply store. Not only has it helped with my portions (I actually squeeze it in teaspoons because I am a total nerd), but it also prevents me from having to make new dressing recipe every single night. You should try it! Here’s the article: “How to Eat More Salads.”

Then tonight we had THISTostadas recipe I found on bigredpot.com. The clouds parted. Why? Because it took 20 minutes to get it on the table (whaaaaaa?), it was low in points (4), and it was tasty. I substituted the fat-free refried beans with refried black beans.

I’ve had so many folks reach out to me to cheer me on and it has helped so much. Some of my friends even started their own plan to lose weight. I think it is incredibly important to have folks joining/helping you on this journey because it isn’t easy. Let’s be honest: It is hard to turn down things you really, really, really, really want (see? I’m still struggling). It’s difficult to resist gobbling up your kid’s cheese cubes when he doesn’t want them. I mean who wants a sandwich combo meal without chips? Um, not me. But, I’m learning to eat the dang sandwich and crunch on a pickle instead. There’s always Friday night cheese dip….